WORD

BIBLICAL

COMMENTARY

VOLUME 3

Exodus

JOHN I DURHAM

General Editors

Bruce M. Metzger

David A. Hubbard†

Glenn W. Barker†

Old Testament Editor

John D. W. Watts

New Testament Editor

Ralph P. Martin

WORD BOOKS, PUBLISHER • DALLAS, TEXAS

Word Biblical Commentary

Exodus

Copyright © 1987 by Word, Incorporated

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Main entry under title:

Word biblical commentary.

Includes bibliographies.

1. Bible—Commentaries—Collected works.

BS491.2.W67 220.7ʹ7 81–71768

ISBN 0-8499-0202-9 (vol. 3) AACR2

Scripture quotations in the body of the commentary marked rsv are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946 (renewed 1973), 1956, and © 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA and are used by permission.

The author’s own translation of the text appears in italic type under the heading “Translation.”

For Jeremy and for Gwynne

בני ובתי

אהובי

Table of Contents

Author’s Preface

Editorial Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction And Bibliography

Translation And Commentary

Part One: Israel in Egypt (1:1–13:16)

I. The Progeny of Israel, The Persecution, and the Deliverer (1:1–2:25)

“And These Are the Names” (1:1–7)

The New Dynasty (1:8–14)

The Pharaoh’s Genocide (1:15–22)

The Birth of a Deliverer (2:1–10)

Adulthood, Revolt and Flight of the Deliverer (2:11–15)

The Deliverer Finds Home (2:16–22)

A Postscript on the Oppression (2:23–25)

II. The Call of the Deliverer, His Commission, and His Obedience (3:1–7:7)

Theophany and Call (3:1–12)

The Name of God and Its Meaning (3:13–22)

The Signs of Moses’ Authority (4:1–9)

The Mouth of Moses (4:10–17)

The Deliverer Goes to Egypt (4:18–31)

The First Confrontation with Pharaoh: Moses and Aaron (5:1–14)

The First Confrontation with Pharaoh: Israel’s Protest (5:15–6:1)

The Covenant Promise to the Fathers and Yahweh’s Rescue (6:2–13)

The Genealogy of Aaron and Moses (6:14–27)

A Preview of the Proof-of-Presence Sequence (6:28–7:7)

III. The Ten Mighty Acts and the Exodus: The Proof of Yahweh’s Presence (7:8–13:16)

The Miracle of the Rod and the Monstrous Snake: A Prologue to the Ten Mighty Acts (7:8–13)

The First Mighty Act (7:14–25)

The Second Mighty Act (7:26–8:11 [8:1–15])

The Third Mighty Act (8:12–15 [16–19])

The Fourth Mighty Act (8:16–28 [20–32])

The Fifth Mighty Act (9:1–7)

The Sixth Mighty Act (9:8–12)

The Seventh Mighty Act (9:13–35)

The Eighth Mighty Act (10:1–20)

The Ninth Mighty Act (10:21–29)

The Tenth Mighty Act Anticipated (11:1–10)

Yahweh’s Passover (12:1–13)

Yahweh’s “Reminder”: Unleavened Bread (12:14–20)

Israel’s Protection (12:21–28)

The Tenth Mighty Act (12:29–36)

The Exodus from Egypt (12:37–50)

The Ritual Testimony of the Exodus (13:1–16)

Part Two: Israel in the Wilderness (13:17–18:27)

The Route of the Exodus (13:17–14:4)

The Pursuit of Pharaoh (14:5–20)

Yahweh’s Deliverance ...